Empath: The Luckiest Smurf (series)
The Empath: The Luckiest Smurf story series is Vic George's series of Smurfs fanfiction stories featuring his main character Empath. Like the novel which is part of the story series, most of these stories take place sometime after Season 5 of the Smurfs cartoon show, but are set in an alternate universe which includes characters and elements from the original comic books, the animated version of ''The Smurfs And The Magic Flute'', the [[The Smurfs (film)|2011 Smurfs movie]]. Intro Sequence Normal Intro Sequence: The music would be a modified version of the Smurfs cartoon show theme song Empath narrates the intro, as it begins in similar fashion to the Season 1 intro sequence, with Empath appearing in it. "Salutations. I am Empath Smurf, and this is the world that this smurf lives in." There is a zoom-in through the forest similar to the Season 7 intro sequence until we see the Smurf Village, and the Smurfs doing their various activities. "These are my people, the Smurfs. They live peaceful joyful lives in a village hidden in the forest. They are my friends and family." Then there is an establishing shot of Psychelia, and scenes of how the Psyches live their lives, with one of Empath being punished by the Psyche Master. "This was my life before I knew who I was. How often I wish that I never lived it." Then there are shots of various villains and threats in the Smurf Forest, which include Hogatha, Lord Balthazar, and Chlorhydris. "But here among the Smurfs, I deal with much greater problems." Then it returns to Empath standing somewhere in the Smurf Forest, before we see the EMPATH: THE LUCKIEST SMURF title appearing. "There isn't a situation that the Smurfs can't handle together, but when it comes to the really tough problems, that's where I come in...Empath." Smurfed Behind Intro Sequence: The music played would be a variation of the Season 9 intro sequence music, only sounding a bit darker. As Empath narrates the intro, we see parts of what took place in "Smurfed Behind: The Departure". The montage of scenes end with Empath and Polaris standing out near the edge of the forest with the EMPATH: THE LUCKIEST SMURF IN SMURFED BEHIND title appearing. "Salutations. I am Empath Smurf, and a terrible thing has happened. Around my birthday, my fellow Smurfs have found a baby dinosaur, and Papa Smurf and Grandpa Smurf used the Key of Chronos to bring the dinosaur back home to his own time. The problem is, the key caused all of my fellow Smurfs to be sent back in time as well. Father Time isn't able to bring them all back, so me and Polaris Psyche have set out into the world to find a way to return them safely home. And by the Great Ancestors, that's what I intend to accomplish...or my name isn't Empath." Summaries NOTE: The following summaries only cover the completed stories in the series. * "Vanity's Double" A flashback story told to Empath about how Vanity's "twin brother" Century integrated as part of the village following his arrival into the world in the cartoon show episode "The Hundredth Smurf". This leads into the events that took place in "The Adventures Of Robin Smurf". * "Smurfing In Paradise" A Smurfs fanfiction adaptation of the comic book story "Bathing Smurfs". A few years before Empath's final return, Handy gets away from the Smurf Village to a beautiful lake in the mountains, and ends up building a private beach resort that becomes so popular that all the Smurfs want to go to it. * "Papa's Big Crush" This story is created as an unofficial follow-up to "Romeo And Smurfette". Papa Smurf is starting to have affectionate feelings for Smurfette that ultimately manifest themselves in a grotesque way when the village leader is accidentally changed into a muscular love-crazed version of himself who is after Smurfette. * "Smurphony Of The Night" The Smurfs are holding their annual Smurfstock music festival when Handy and Miner accidentally bring a vampire Smurf named Lord Vladimir Smurfula into the village, who seduces Smurfette into becoming his eternal companion, and Empath must stop him from doing so. * "Empath And The Red-Nosed Reindeer" Empath and the Smurflings discover a reindeer lost in the forest with a red shiny nose on Christmas Eve. They bring him to the village in the hopes that they would give him a good home when Chlorhydris the witch covers the forest with a thick fog, hoping it would stop the flight of Nicholas the toymaker and his delivery of toys. * "Virtual Smurfality" On a cold snowy day in the dead of winter, Papa Smurf comes up with his own version of Homnibus' Imaginarium room where the Smurfs can actually interact with whatever they can imagine. A problem occurs when most of the Smurfs go off into their own fantasies, and only Empath, Smurfette, and the Smurflings can rescue them before the Imaginarium crystals are totally destroyed. * "The Orb Of Inspiration" An adaptation of the cartoon show episode "The Lure Of The Orb". * "The Innocence Of A Smurf" It is a special observance day where the Smurfs examine their own personal faults, to confess them, and to be cleansed by swimming across the Pool of Souls, when Empath is confronted by a fault he committed that may cost him his life. * "Papa Smurf & Mama Smurfette" A follow-up to "Romeo And Smurfette" and "Papa's Big Crush", where Empath's time-traveling descendant Traveler examines an alternate timeline where Smurfette falls in love with, and marries, Papa Smurf. * "The Exile From Psychelia" It is a year after Empath's final return from Psychelia, and Polaris Psyche has fled from there in search of Empath. With Polaris' arrival in the Smurf Forest he brings trouble along, and Empath and the Smurfs must deal with the Psyches as they come to retrieve Polaris. * "Polaris' Fantasy" Empath's friend Polaris Psyche is finally a member of the Smurf Village, and he has trouble interacting with the other Smurfs until a female being called Elatia appears in the Imaginarium beach setting where the Smurfs have their Summer Solstice celebration. However, Empath and Polaris discover that Elatia is more than just a mere creation from Polaris' imagination when she tries to take over Smurfette's body. * "Empath The Bandit Smurf" A Smurfs fanfiction adaptation of the comic book story "The Jewel Smurfer". Empath during a training session with Century loses his memory and is taken by a couple of entertainers to perform for people, then is later used by a criminal mastermind to steal valuables from the townsfolk. Papa Smurf and four other Smurfs follow after Empath to find him and restore his memory. * "Monkey On Your Smurf" Handy brings Clockwork Smurf back to life by giving him a new mechanical body with some new features such as a hat that squirts liquid from it (similar to his counterpart in the original Smurf comic books), while Empath and the other Smurfs deal with various types of mutations and strange behaviors such as Papa Smurf's restlessness and flaring temper. * "Where No Smurf Has Gone Before" This story is created as an unofficial follow-up to "The Astro Smurf" and "Dreamy's Pen Pals". Empath finds Dreamy desiring to travel the stars again when an alien spaceship lands in the Smurf forest, complete with a computer that seems to be alive. Empath, Dreamy, and Handy borrow the spaceship to help fulfill Dreamy's wish to travel the stars, but they end up running into another alien race called the Schliphargons who are intending to capture them and use them as their slaves. * "Days Of Auld Lang Smurf" It is around New Year's Eve, and most of the Smurfs are thinking about their loved ones who have passed away years ago, which Chlorhydris the evil witch takes advantage of by casting a spell on them that makes them think their loved ones have returned back from the dead. But can Smurfette and Polaris Psyche convince them that what they think they're seeing is not real? * "Snaggers Keepers" Empath deals with his fellow Smurf Nabby, who just can't seem to keep his hands off other Smurfs' personal things, when he takes and accidentally loses Polaris Psyche's meditational stone. While searching for the missing stone, Nabby takes a gnome's magical amulet as a substitute, not knowing the trouble he brings to the village. * "The Grouchiest Friendship" This story takes place during Empath's first visit to the Smurf Village, where he is learning about how he is a Smurf and how Smurfs live their lives. It is during this visit that he tries to be friends with one Smurf nobody would thought any Smurf could be friends with -- Grouchy. * "The Fear Of Smurfitude" This story takes place during Empath's third visit to the Smurf Village, when he is given his own Smurf house to live in and take care of. However, he finds it difficult to sleep alone in his new house, especially when somebody is in his dreams trying to draw him to be used for an evil purpose. * "I Believe I Can Fly" This story is divided into two parts: the first part takes place during one of Empath's visits, where Empath's demonstration of his then-recent ability to fly inspires Handy to come up with his own way to fly, most of them usually ending up in failure; the second part takes place during Empath's final absence from the village, where Handy unveils his smurfplane invention and uses it to rescue Smurfette from the clutches of Gargamel. * "Smurfing In The Money" A Smurfs fanfiction adaptation of "The Finance Smurf". Trader tells Empath about how a gold coin that was part of the Smurfs money system -- and now part of his collection -- came into being. * "The Great Book Of Answers" A Smurfs fanfiction adaptation of "The Smurfs And The Book That Tells Everything". Brainy tells Empath about a magic book that he discovers in Papa Smurf's laboratory that speaks and answers questions, and how his possession of the book causes a lot of trouble. * "Smurfing There Is Half The Fun" An adaptation of the cartoon show episode "Smurfs On Wheels". This time it's Empath and Papa Smurf along a few friends and the Smurflings that go on a hike to Dreamy Steamy Springs. * "Smurfed Behind: The Departure" A "story board web comic" story that takes place around the time of the Season 9 episode "The Smurfs That Time Forgot", this is about how Empath and Polaris were the only ones left behind while every other Smurf is trapped in time by the use of the Key Of Chronos to bring an unfrozen baby dinosaur back home. * "Empath's Wedding" This takes place at the epilogue of the original novel and is an expansion of the epilogue, as Empath and Smurfette realize after ten years of living together that it's time for them to be married. However, one Smurf who still loves Smurfette is totally against the union taking place. Notable Differences Some notable differences that exist between the Smurfs of this story series and those of the cartoon show series on which it is partially based include: * Most of the young adult Smurfs that Papa Smurf calls "his little Smurfs" are all physically born of Papa Smurf's own fellow Smurfs, some of which are even related to each other (such as Handy and Hefty being twin brothers). * Baby Smurf and the Smurflings are mentioned as coming from Smurfling Island, with Sassette being a real female Smurf who was trapped in a suspended animation crystal instead of being another artificially-created female Smurf like Smurfette. * Smurfs are physically born instead of coming by stork from an unknown location in both the comic books and the cartoon series. * Smurfberries have been known to exist in the Smurf Village, whereas in the cartoon show they were a rather recent introduction as per the episode "Smurfs At Sea". * There's a notable mix of characters from both the cartoon show and the comic books, with some additional characters imported from the 2011 Smurfs movie. * An element carried over from the comic books is that the Smurfs in this story series tend to drink alcoholic beverages, such as sarsaparilla ale. * The Swoofs as they appear in "The Astro Smurf", "Dreamy's Pen Pals", and "Where No Smurf Has Gone Before" are orange-skinned as in the comic books instead of green-skinned as in the cartoon show, with Grandpa Swoof having both orange skin and white hair. Continuity With The Cartoon Show Most if not all episodes from the Smurfs cartoon show from Season 1 to Season 5 are considered canonical to the EMPATH story series. However, some elements in the original stories may be completely different. With Nat Smurfling no longer originally being an adult Smurf, stories that featured the adult Nat would most likely feature Tracker as a substitute character. Gargamel's first meeting with the Smurfs would take place in an adaptation of the comic book story "The Smurfnapper", thus negating "Gargamel's Time Trip". The Smurfs' first meeting with Johan and Peewit would take place in an adaptation of the comic book story "The Smurfs And The Magic Flute", which is considered non-canonical to the cartoon show. The Season 9 episodes would be different in that there are now a larger cast of Smurf characters appearing in the stories as they also are time-traveling. This would take place in what is called The Lost Year. Primary Characters * Empath * Papa Smurf * Smurfette * Polaris Psyche * Tapper See Also * Reporter's Inside Stories, a series of interviews with the characters in the story series. External Link * Empath: The Luckiest Smurf stories at Vic George's Imaginarium Category:Series